Neutral Series

3M’s Neutral Series films does a good job at reflecting heat and reducing glare due to its high reflectivity properties. It is ideal for daytime privacy, so people outside can’t look into your home (all they see is their own reflections).

Sun control films address three issues that we generally face in a tropical country like Singapore, which are glare, heat and harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. 3M has different types of sun control films that cater to your different needs.

Firstly, you can refer the International Window Film Associations (IWFA) website for a list of window film manufacturers. 3M is one of them.

Secondly, you can also refer to the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) website to check the availability of the window film models offered by other brands. The National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) is a US-based non-profit organization which administers the only uniform, independent rating and labelling system for the energy performance of windows, doors, skylights, and attachment products (e.g. window films). You can find the 3M window film types that we carry (e.g. Prestige, Night Vision and Neutral Series films) on this website. Their product specifications and performance are the same as stated in our brochures.

We are also able to present to you the 3M manufacturer’s certificate upon request for further verification.

Glass is a good insulator of heat. The thicker the glass panel, the greater the amount of heat trapped.

The majority of our window panels these days are either 6mm to 8mm thick. However, some brands list their films’ performance specifications based on a 3mm thick glass, which creates a false impression that the film is able to achieve a higher total solar energy rejection than 3M’s. There are also brands which do not indicate the thickness of the glass used in their performance tests.

Unlike our competitors, 3M has an abundance of specifications indicated (e.g. film performance on a single pane clear glass of 6mm versus film performance on a single pane tinted glass of 6mm). See below for example.

The average consumer equates ‘IR’ with heat mainly because of infrared heaters and lamps but this does not accurately represent the composition of energy from the sun.

Infrared rays represent about 53% of the solar energy. The rest of the sun’s energy comes from visible light (44%) and a small portion from ultraviolet (UV) light (3%). All of these 3 areas make up what is known as the solar spectrum and their combined energy is what we refer to when we use the term total solar energy. Hence, these parts of the solar spectrum also contribute about half of what turns into heat in a room.

Therefore, when making claims about heat rejection, we should be looking at Total Solar Energy (UV + visible + IR).

Total Solar Energy Rejected (TSER) is a metric that describes the total amount of solar energy (UV + visible + IR) that is blocked, or rejected, from passing through the window.

The IR rejection number only helps people to understand that the film is rejecting the vast majority of the heat from the infrared. It does not mean that if a large portion of the IR is blocked then almost no heat will be transmitted through a film.

No. It does not make it a better performing film as a film with a high TSER (Total Solar Energy Rejected) could also be much darker or highly reflective. So the best way to assess between films is to compare films with the same VLT (visible light transmission).

Yes, you can get a pretty good idea of the VLT simply by looking at how dark the film makes the window. Simply put, VLT is the total amount of the visible light that makes it through your filmed window.

Our films are designed to be applied onto the interior of window panels. The adhesive side of the film has a UV protection coating that protects the film from degrading, hence there is a very minimal chance of bubbling and delamination due to UV exposure.

The interior side of the film has no UV coating. Unlike fixed, sliding and top hung window panels, casement panels can be swung outwards and the interior of window panels will be exposed to outdoor elements. Hence wear and tear is even faster.

If you prefer a longer warranty period for your casement panels, you can opt for the exterior film. We do have exterior films for our Prestige and Reflective Sun Control Films.

Fret not, there are no hacking, drilling or noise involved in the installation of window films. It would be a wet application. Our installers will wash the glass panels with shampoo solution to removing stains and dirt marks before applying the films. However you are still required to clean your window prior to the installation as we would need to ss reduce the amount of dust and dirt significantly.

The installation of the sun control films should only be carried out after all major renovations work are completed (hacking and drilling) and before any curtains/blinds/grilles installation.

The condition of the site has to be clean and minimally dust free for installation so as to minimise the chances of dirt trapped bubbles on the film.